Category Archives: Business & Politics

The Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase is an annual event responding to the growing demand for practical guidance on how First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities and their enterprise partners can work together, in common purpose, for shared success. Canada’s Indigenous economy is worth $30 billion and it is expected to more than triple in the coming years, hitting $100 billion by 2025. Much of this success comes through partnerships, like the ones at the heart of the Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase. Economic reconciliation is the key to securing bright futures for First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities — and it opens the door to continued prosperity for all Canadians in this era of transformative change. By highlighting the relationships that underpin economic reconciliation, we enable participants and society at large to build toward an inclusive vision for what reconciliation looks like into the rest of the 21st century.

HOUSTON, BC — A push by the District of Houston council to limit the impact on tax revenues from the closure of major industries has received support. As provincial legislation stands now, a large company can apply to reduce the assessed value of improvements or facilities on property it owns down to 10 per cent when it closes the facility. The Houston council submitted a resolution to the North Central Local Government Association. The resolution will now be considered by all local governments in B.C. this fall. …Although the District’s resolution did not mention Canfor by name, the closure as of last month of its mill would have a substantial impact on the heavy industrial portion of the District’s tax base. …For its part, Canfor says that while it is closing its sawmill, it does want to build a new one, but won’t be making that decision until June.

Nanaimo, BC – Mosaic Forest Management released achievements related to the environment, Indigenous partnerships, people, community, and safety in its 2022 Sustainability Progress Report announced today. The report discloses the company’s progress across key areas that ensure sustainability for its people and the communities and forests where Mosaic operates. “Sustainability is about multiple factors. It’s safeguarding and recognizing the team, ensuring there is fibre for tomorrow through stewarding the lands we work on today, and advancing partnerships with First Nations and local communities,” said Mosaic President and CEO Rob Gough. “We’ve made exciting progress in 2022 with accomplishments like the launch of the BigCoast Forest Climate Initiative, which recently issued its first carbon credits under Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard.”

Brian Banfill

The Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) is recognizing Brian Banfill, a remarkable individual whose term on the Board of Directors is coming to an end. We express our most sincere gratitude for Brian’s invaluable contributions and unwavering commitment to advancing the vital work of FESBC. With over 30 years of distinguished forest-sector experience, he has played an instrumental role in shaping the organization’s vision and fostering sustainable forest management practices throughout British Columbia. Brian joined the board in 2017, shortly after FESBC’s inception in February 2016. Board Chair Dave Peterson shared that, “Brian’s tenure on the FESBC Board of Directors has been nothing short of exceptional. His six years of dedicated service to the public, including two consecutive three-year terms, have had a profound impact on our organization’s success.”

A lumber producer who claims a Prince George-based business is partly responsible for damaging equipment it had purchased from the owner of a Fort St. James sawmill may be going after the wrong people. In a response to a civil claim Teal-Jones Group filed in March, the numbered company identified as doing business as Allen’s Scrap and Salvage Ltd. filed a response on May 11 in which it not only issued a wholesale denial of responsibility but says that by the time the work was being carried out, Allen’s was under different ownership. Pursuant to a sale of the business to Central Salvage Ltd., it had not operated Allen’s since September 2021, according to the response. According to Teal-Jones’ claim, Allen’s damaged the items in June 2022 while removing them as part of the dismantling the old Conifex sawmill.

Eric Butler

VANCOUVER, BC – West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. today announced the appointment of Eric L. Butler to its Board of Directors. Eric Butler is an accomplished executive and leader. Following his retirement from a 32-year career with Union Pacific, one of the largest freight rail providers in North America, he is a corporate director and President and CEO of Aswani-Butler Investment Associates, a private equity firm. Currently, he is a member of the Board of Directors of NiSource Inc., and the Eastman Chemicals Company and has served in the past in a number of appointments, including as the former Chair of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City – Omaha Branch.

MONTREAL — Canadian National envisions the day when its main line to the Port of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, will host 50 trains per day. “Our capacity right now on that line is about 25 trains a day,” CN CEO Tracy Robinson said. …The container terminal at Rupert can currently handle 1.6 million TEU, or twenty-foot equivalent units, but by the end of next year will be able to accommodate 1.8 million after an expansion project is completed. …Construction is under way on the Ridley Island Export Logistics Project at Prince Rupert. The project, which gained final environmental approval in March, will include large-scale bulk and breakbulk transload facilities, an intermodal rail yard, and a container storage yard. The facility will transload plastic pellets, cereal grains, specialty crops, lumber, and pulp directly from rail into containers for export. The first phase of the project will create 400,000 TEUs of export capacity.

VANCOUVER, BC — Conifex Timber announced that it has made the difficult decision to take unscheduled downtime for four weeks at its Mackenzie, BC sawmill commencing June 5, 2023. It is anticipated that the unscheduled downtime will impact production capacity by approximately 16 million board feet. The downtime is necessitated by the low water levels forecasted in the Williston Reservoir negatively impacting Conifex’s ability to safely and efficiently utilize its reservoir assets and reduced demand for lumber products amid challenging economic conditions. Conifex intends to utilize the production downtime to complete critical maintenance activities at its sawmill. “We regret the impact this may have on our employees, their families, and the community,” said Ken Shields, CEO. …Conifex’s power plant operation will remain unaffected.

Canfor Corporation and Canfor Pulp Products Inc. jointly announce the release of the 2022 Sustainability Report, which outlines performance on climate change, sustainable forestry and energy management, and social issues such as inclusion and diversity, and Indigenous relations. “Sustainable forest management and low carbon forest products can play a key role in addressing our changing climate,” says Don Kayne, President and CEO, Canfor. “Sustainability is at the very core of what we do, and our 2022 Sustainability Report outlines the progress we are making on embedding it throughout our company under our three pillars of people, planet and products.” …New for this year is a target to distribute $2 million annually to support community programs and initiatives through our Good Things Come From Trees community giving program, performance against targets for water management and air quality for Canfor Pulp, as well as performance against targets for waste management for our Canadian wood products’ operations.

Wildfires burning across western Canada have forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes and have prompted some oil and gas companies to curb production as blazes approach pipelines. The fires have burned about 478,000 hectares, or 1,800 square miles, across Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan as of Monday — 10 times the average area burned for this time of year, according to the NASA Earth Observatory. The fires have had a notable impact on the region’s oil industry, as some drillers were forced to halt a small percentage of production in a precautionary measure due to shifting fire conditions. This week, benchmark Canadian heavy crude prices tightened to multi-month highs over concerns about the blazes. Nearly 2.7 million barrels of daily oil sands production in Alberta is in “very high” or “extreme” wildfire danger zones, according to Rystad Energy, an energy consulting firm.

Orange Shirt Society and Tolko Industries Ltd. (Tolko) are proud to announce that Charliss Santos, a Grade 10 student from Ponoka, Alberta is the winner of the official Orange Shirt Day design contest to commemorate Canada’s 2023 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Charliss’ intricate design shows an Indigenous child held between two hands, surrounded by people, a heart and an eagle. Charliss said, “The child symbolizes all Indigenous children who suffered inside residential schools. The people represent the strong community First Nations peoples have built, and the support that they receive. The heart represents healing and forgiveness, and lastly, the eagle represents acceptance, honesty and freedom.” Her design was selected from entries submitted from across Canada. She will receive a $200 prize and travel to meet Phyllis Webstad for Orange Shirt Day in September 2023.

Skeena Sawmills is re-opening its scales today to build up a log inventory leading to a planned May 29 re-opening. The shutdown that began in early February has idled more than 150 direct employees for almost three months. The mill’s owners had cited high operating costs, a lack of a secure fibre supply and weak markets combining to make its operation uneconomical. “We will start the mill one shift with the focus on hopefully resuming full production capacity in the next two to three months when market conditions are projected to improve,” said company chief operating officer Greg DeMille. Also affected by the closure was the subsidiary Skeena Bioenergy pellet plant located next door. It is now scheduled to re-open June 5 and employs approximately 20 people. …Skeena Sawmills has also asked the provincial government for $17.5 million to finance a three-year project it says will restore the mill and pellet plant to profitability.

VERNON, B.C. — Tolko Industries announced two weeks of unscheduled downtime at its Lakeview sawmill operations. “Significantly high log costs in BC and a lack of available economic fibre continue to impact our ability to run at a higher capacity,” says Troy Connolly. “While our goal is to ensure consistency and stability for all of our operations, the steep decline in lumber demand and upward cost pressures in the province unfortunately make this a necessary decision.” …The last day of production will be Friday, May 19 and operations will resume on Monday, June 5. Lakeview’s shipping and planer operations will continue to operate during the downtime. …Approximately 50 employees will be impacted and the potential for approximately 10 million board feet of lumber will be removed from production. Pino Pucci said they “will continue to work for our customers and do our best to minimize any impacts. 

VANCOUVER — A British Columbia Supreme Court judge ruling on a First Nations land title lawsuit says it did not prove it had rights to its entire claim area, although he suggested it may be time for the provincial government to rethink its current test for such titles. The Nuchatlaht First Nation, a community on Vancouver Island’s northwest coast, wanted title over an area of Crown land that included a portion of Nootka Island and much of the surrounding coastline. Justice Elliott Myers said …that there “may be areas” the nation can establish in its claim, but if it wants to do that another hearing would be required. …He’s given the nation 14 days to decide if it wishes to proceed on the further claims. …Myers wrote that this case may be indicative of the need for a “reconsideration of the test for Aboriginal title as it relates to coastal First Nations.”

With collaboration, innovation and support, the Adams Lake band is moving ahead with a business venture to sustain forests while providing value-added manufacturing and long-term employment. “We’re hoping to start it small, keep it simple and then build from there,” said an upbeat Dave Nordquist, the band’s Title and Rights and Natural Resource Director. Nordquist explained it all began with a small business in Enderby that created door and window shims, which was having trouble finding cedar. Nordquist knew Greg Smith with Gilbert Smith Forest Products (GSFP) who also had a contact at Woodtone Specialties (WSI), which was experiencing a worker shortage in one part of their operations. This eventually led to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Adams Lake band, Gilbert Smith Forest Products, a primary lumber manufacturer and Woodtone Specialties, a secondary re-manufacturer. …Nordquist said he could see the new venture employing 20 to 30 people

Harry Lali

Former B.C. NDP MLA Harry Lali has joined BC United. Lali has been working as a consultant in the forest industry for nine years. Prior to that, he served four terms as an NDP MLA and transportation minister. Lali said in a news release that he has not been a B.C. NDP member since December 2020, and now believes the best interests of the province, especially resource-dependent, rural communities, would be served by a BC United government. Lali said Falcon is expanding the party to include people from the centre and centre-left and that he will be offering his advice to B.C. United on labour, forestry and rural B.C. issues. …Lali, 68, was first elected in 1991 in the Merritt-area riding of Yale-Lillooet.